27 January 2012

Passing the hat

You may have noticed the widget on the right. I'm asking for money. I HATE asking for money. But this is my kids. I'd crawl across glass for my kids. And I intend to even cross into the United States for them - something I swore I'd never do. Read on:

Snap is almost 17. She was diagnosed late and hasn't received treatment. She's high-functioning, but needs a little extra help. I'm not asking for this for her though, even though it will benefit her too. We can manage her help on our own. We're asking for help for our boys.

Crackle is almost 6. He's almost totally non-verbal. and almost totally disconnected from his older brothers and only nominally relates to his Dad and me. We have been praying for a miracle, while also researching and exploring medical pathways. Like every other set of parents, we want our child to fulfill his potential. Without special intervention, our boy’s future is extremely limited.

Pop is turning 3 soon. He's verbal and much more connected with us. He's higher-functioning. However, he's full of anxiety and is quite limited in interests. We want to keep him from regressing and teach him that the world isn't as scary as he thinks.

Government programs for Crackle have failed miserably. And anyway, at 6, he's all but cut off from them. We'd rather not wait for them to fail with Pop too.

In the last few months we’ve found a center that is having high levels of success bringing children through their state of autism: The Son-Rise Program at the Autism Treatment Center of America (for more information see their website: http://www.autismtreatmentcenter.org/).

I plan to travel to the Autism Treatment Center of America in April for the Son-Rise Program Start-Up Program to learn how to run a home-based program for our sons, and then I want to return for a week of intensive training. Through this training we will be able to work more effectively with the boys over the next several years to help them through their autism. The success rate of The Son-Rise Program instills hope in us for his freedom from this mysterious condition. It is difficult for us to understand fully the issue of autism and reversing it, but we are diligently trying to do so for the sake of their future.

In order for us to attend these training sessions, we must come up with about $10,000 for these two training sessions, expense of travel, and help around the house while I'm gone. Of course, we will personally carry as much of this as we can, but with a single income —and three kids—we will need some help. Therefore, we are asking family and friends that can do so, to consider helping us with the expenses associated with this training. We're hoping to raise $3000 for the first trip (see the widget).

It is not our intentions to place you in an awkward position, and we assure you that we fully understand and respect the fact that you may not be able to help. However, if you can, we will forever appreciate it.

We plan to leave for Massachusetts on April 21 , 2012 so your rapid response will really help. If you want to visit with us about any of this, feel free to email selenie@gmail.com . We would love to hear from you, whether you can or cannot help with the costs.

We would not ask this favor if it was for us, but our concern for our boys compels us to humble ourselves and ask. Thanks for reading our note, praying for us if that is your way, and for any financial help you might be able to give.

With sincere thanks,

Luna and Tony

P.S. If we receive more money than we need, we will quickly return the extra.
P.P.S. If you're not a fan of Paypal, email me, and I will provide an address and real name.